Waukegan Bathhouses

Located on Lake Michigan, Illinois Beach State Park in Zion is a nature preserve that extends roughly 7 miles on the shore. It has beaches, sand dunes, forests and marshes. Located just north of the decommissioned Zion nuclear reactor, it sits like an oasis of beautiful nature in an otherwise deprived urban setting. I was only a few minutes into my walk when I come across these amazing abandoned bathhouses. What caught my immediate curiosity was the obvious mid-century modern style and design. An educated guess would place the original construction somewhere in the 1930s-1940s when this style was most common and popular. Ultra-contemporary for their time, and built for functionality and durability, they have an almost futuristic look, further enhanced by the design of the unusual rooftop antennas.